Death Eater
by Katana Sidhe
Summary: While many had thought the death of Lord Voldemort would bring in era of peace, few suspected that Harry would take his place, leading the death eaters in a reign of terror over the wizarding world...
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

_One year ago…_

All of the members of the Order of the Phoenix were there, led by Dumbledore at his most solemn and the grandest that Harry had ever seen him. Beside him stood Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, the two members of the Order that Harry had the most contact with. He only wished that Sirius could have been present, but he was killed by Voldemort and his death eaters seven years before. This would be for Sirius, for Sirius and for his parents, but everyone had a reason to hate Voldemort…

Around the room there were wizards and witches, young and old. Harry was able to pick out the faces of several of his former classmates all ready to take up the fight. There was Seamus Finnegan, Parvarti Patil, Dean Thomas, Oliver Wood, and even Neville Longbottom—he really was a true Gryffindor now, a far change from the timid and clumsy boy he'd been entering into his first year at Hogwarts. Sitting nearby were Harry's two best friends, Ron and Hermione, sitting so very close, their hands reaching for the other, but not quite touching. He wished that they would just admit it to each other already. They were both much moodier when they were lovesick. Besides, though Harry was confident that they'd triumph tonight, there had already been heavy losses among their ranks and there were no guarantees. He wouldn't want to die without having told Ginny how he felt. Harry turned to the girl in question, her left hand interlaced with his right. There was no chance of that though. He had asked Ginny not to come today, but she being who she was hadn't listened. Giving her a faint smile, he cast his gaze back to the room, examining their determined faces as they prepared to move out, determination that he knew was mirrored in his own expression.

Harry's scar itched, but for once he didn't care. Today Lord Voldemort would be defeated for good and maybe he would finally live up to his birthright.

* * *

They went in groups. Hermione was with Ron, Harry, Dumbledore, Lupin, and Ginny. They received information that the Death eaters were planning something big, so the Order had to strike first. Gripping her wand tightly in her hand, Hermione glanced at Ron, some part of her wishing that she were gripping his hand in stead. 

_Enough nonsense Hermione. _

Reminding herself that she was a clear thinking, bright, and independent young woman she took a step away from Ron and concentrated fully on what was in front of her; the twisting corridors of Lucius Malfoy's mansion. They had snuck in instead of apparating so as not to set off any alarms that were triggered by spell use. It would only be a matter of time though before the Death Eaters realized they were there, but hopefully they'd get to them before they dispersed and attacked back themselves. The whole purpose was the fight, but Hermione would much prefer that they caught the evil wizards and witches off guard in order to the lower the number of casualties for their side. Disabling the stray death eaters around the mansion, they kept heading towards the inner sanctum, where Voldemort would be with his closest, preparing to cast their spell.

As they turned into the wide hall that led to the chamber and the fighting began in earnest. Hermione for once had no time to think, only to act. She kept fighting even as they broke through to the inner chamber and there they all were, the inner circle, the most evil death eaters of them all and in the center Voldemort himself. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Harry and Dumbledore move forward, but Harry got there first. She had no time to watch though as a curse went flying her way. She countered it quickly, facing the death eater, that sniveling rat, Peter Pettigrew and they were off. Then almost as suddenly as the fight began, a flash of light filled the room. Something was happening. Harry and Voldemort both kneeled, facing each other, their wands touching and a strange energy passing between them. All the fighting ceased as those still able turned to watch.

* * *

Harry stepped forward, ignoring the fighting that broke out around him. He was intent on just one thing, _Voldemort_. He knew he had to make it there before Dumbledore. Ultimately, this was his fight, Dumbledore would not succeed. A spell left his lips, creating an area so even Dumbledore couldn't interfere. Confidently, he turned back to the cloaked figure of Lord Voldemort. 

"So, it's just you and me boy." His voice came out in a sibilant whisper and Harry could just barely see the sepulcher face in the hood, grinning like a corpse.

Harry smiled faintly, though his green eyes remained cold. He tilted his head to one side.

"Not for long."

His meaning was utterly clear and the dark lord laughed.

"We're not so different you and I… Don't you see?"

As he spoke, he lifted his wand causing Harry to raise his in response and a crackle of energy jumped between them, sending an electric shock through Harry's system. In that flicker of a second, a thousand voices had called to him in the sibilant sounds of parseltongue, bringing him into awareness. He looked around at everything and everyone as if seeing it all for the very first time. There was… possibility. A slow smile spread across his face, why didn't he see this before? He could do _anything_. He'd get them all for what they'd done to him and more besides.

"You're right. So why would I need you? _Avada Kadavra_!"

A green light shone out of his wand and he found himself pleased by how easily the unforgivable curse had left his lips. As he extended the wand, Voldemort flung his out in defense against the curse and like two unicorn's showing affection, their wands touched. A brilliant light encompassed them both and he fell to his knees at the power flooding through him, a steady current moving away from Voldemort and into him.

"You're free now, boy." The man who had been little more then an animated corpse crumpled to the floor, but the voices kept on whispering into Harry's mind. Telling him so many things… As realization dawned on his face, his gaze hardened and he turned to Dumbledore.

"You've been holding me back." He said it casually, but there was a manic gleam in his eye. He couldn't believe it, he had trusted him. Dumbledore gave him a sad look.

"My boy, I—"

"I don't want to hear it!" Harry'd had enough of the old man's lies. He felt utterly betrayed, and he wanted… he wanted nothing more then to see him die. The curse left his lips even more swiftly then before and as they did, Dumbledore's face formed an expression that seemed almost one of surrender. He'd seen the worst, so it didn't matter anymore. The old man slumped and his broken body lay sprawled on the ground right next to Lord Voldermort's… no just Voldemort, he was not a lord any longer.

_How fitting._

Harry turned to face the rest of the people in the room, calling out to the death eaters in his head forcing them to obey him. These were his new allies now… no, his underlings. Harry smiled, a vicious light glinting in his emerald eyes as he moved into action.

Fleur was worried. She knew it had been a bad idea for her parents to send Gabrielle to Hogwarts, especially after all that went on during the Triwizard cup. Hogwarts was dangerous and even worse it produced fanatics such as Harry Potter, so intent on bringing down Lord Voldemort, they had no sense of self-preservation, and unfortunately those like her sister Gabrielle as well. That was the real problem. A cause was all well and good, but not when you are fifteen years old and shouldn't be meddling with the affairs of adult death eaters. Gabrielle had gotten sucked up along with that crusade that seemed to have taken over the entire school. She couldn't believe the Order of the Phoenix had let her come along, though knowing her sister, they probably didn't even know she had come, and that was why Fleur was here in this dank, though at least somewhat tasteful mansion, in the middle of a huge melee between the Order of the Phoenix and the Deatheaters. Realizing she would never find her sister by just searching, she waved her wand to cast a quick locator spell. A silvery green ball of light no bigger then a small fairy appeared, hovering for a moment in the air before zipping off. Fleur followed, leaving the safety of the closet that she had apparated into and out into the fray.

She didn't want any part of this fight; she just wanted to find her sister. This didn't keep people from attacking her, but she was driven, she downed them before the spells could even leave their lips and kept on running. As she ran though, something changed, instead of the Death eaters fleeing, it was the members of the Order. She heard bits of whispers as they went past, but nothing that made a whole lot of sense.

"Harry Potter… insane… Dumbledore…death eaters… dead."

She wanted to stop and ask what was going on, but she didn't have time. She was now even more desperate to find Gabrielle. Finally the witchlight veered off into a small room, a library and there she found her sister sprawled out on the ground. A curse had hit her. As Fleur approached she saw her eyes staring wide up at the ceiling and she was sure was dead, but then they flickered. Fleur pressed her hand to here sister's cheek patting it gently trying to figure out what curse it had been.

"Gabrielle, ma petite, can you hear me?"

Fleur looked around frantically trying to decide what to do. Just as she turned back to her sister, she heard a footstep behind her. Standing up, she whirled around, her wand out in front of her and came face to face with a disheveled blonde man in death eater garb. After a moment she realized she recognized him. Draco Malfoy. They both stood frozen in place waiting to see what the other would do. He had obviously lost his wand in the battle and hers was poised at his throat, ready to curse him if he made the wrong mood. He gazed at her with a hard look that couldn't quite hide his haunted and weary eyes. Finally he spoke.

"Well are you going to do it or not?"

Fleur shrugged, she wasn't sure what she was going to do.

"Is Voldemort dead? Did the Order fail? What happened?"

Draco began to laugh, but there was no humor in it.

"Harry bloody Potter happened. Oh Voldemort's dead alright, but so is Dumbledore. He killed them both."

"What, wh—"

Draco cut in. "Look, if you aren't going to curse me with that thing, get it out of my face."

Finally Fleur let the wand fall then turned back to her kneel beside Gabrielle.

"I'm just here for my sister."

"Good for you. I'm getting the hell out of here. So if you'll excuse me."

Draco moved towards the wall and began fiddling around with the bookshelf finally when he grabbed a large black one and as he pulled on it, a door way opened behind the book shelves. Fleur knew when she came in that she wouldn't be able to apparate out again, there were wards for that.

"That leads out? I'm coming too."

Draco just kept walking, but he left the passage open. Casting a spell to make her sister lighter, Fleur picked her up and followed.

* * *

_--Two Days Later--_

Ginny sat in her room her legs drawn up as she stared out the window, her eyes red-rimmed and dull though the she had long since spent the last of her tears.

_How could this have happened?_

She'd wanted an explanation, there had to be a reason, it was one of Voldemort's spells, but no. Harry's words were his own and she understood him well enough to recognize that. She had been under Voldemort's possession herself once, she knew what it was like, and that wasn't it. As much as it hurt, his actions were his own. He killed Dumbledore-- killed everyone of his own free will. The Death eaters changed their allegiance quickly enough and their attack was amazingly even stronger then before as Harry directed them towards specific people. The first to die had been Severus Snape. He was the one who had led them to the meeting and was a loyal member of the Order of the Phoenix, despite his personality problems of which there were many. Harry had always hated him and vice versa. The next person to die was Bellatrix Black Lestrange, "for Sirius." What came as more of a surprise was when he killed Pavarti Patil who foolishly spoke out against his actions within spellrange. There was a choice, Harry had told them, join him or die. Of all the things to happen after Voldemort's death, no one had expected this. Lupin called the retreat, but Ginny had no intention of listening. She had always been the one to call Harry out when he was being a jerk, maybe he'd listen now when what he was doing was so much worse. She was about to go to him when a hand grabbed her arm pulling her back. She barely recognized Oliver Wood in her distress and continued to struggle for a minute with him as Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione came to her side. Seeing that they were all beginning to draw the half-crazed Harry's attention, Ginny resigned herself to it and they all escaped.

That was two days ago and in those two days Harry had since gone back to his muggle family and made them all dance to his bidding with the Imperius curse before finally ending it with the killing curse. Ginny felt physically ill when she heard about it. From there he immediately began to hunt down several wizards and witches of the order. Most had died, but a few had apparently joined him. No one could put up any resistance. She knew Harry was powerful, but no one realized the extent of it, and somehow killing Voldemort had only made him more so. After all he managed to kill the greatest wizard of the time, Albus Dumbledore. The survivors had to scatter, Ginny and her brothers only managed to make it home that morning and they couldn't stay long. The house had been her home all her life and she'd have to leave it before Harry came after them.

As that thought entered her mind, Ginny suddenly realized how quiet it was. She was in the highest room in the house, but the Weasleys were noisy people, and sound carried. She should be hearing something. Ginny was about to turn away from the window when a flash of witch light caught her eyes. There was someone outside. Reaching for her wand, she made her way across the room and as she quietly slid the door open. Noise assailed her ears. The quiet had been a spell. With great dread she descended the stairs forcing herself to face the unfamiliar voices in order to find her family.

She saw her arm first, sprawled out, and when she took another step she saw her mother's ginger hair framing a pale and lifeless face. Placing her hand to her mouth lest she cry out, she continued down, drawn to the sight. She reached the open door to the kitchen, but stayed back as she looked at what had happened inside. They were dead. _Was it all of them?_ A man with black hair knelt over one of the bodies, even from the back she recognized him, _Harry_. Unconsciously, she took a step back up the stairs when one of the old floorboards creaked. He turned and immediately focused on her, a smile appearing on his face.

"Ginny!"

He said it like he was happy to see her. As if she would be happy to see him. As if he weren't standing over the body of her brother Percy. Before she could move or say anything, he strode forward, grabbing her arm and pulling her into a hug. Then like the flick of a switch, and immediately he began to sob.

"Ginny, Ginny, I'm sorry I had to. Forgive me."

Ginny tried to pull away, her hand holding her wand in a death grip and he finally released her from the hug so he could see her response. Ginny tried to keep the anger from her voice when she spoke; she didn't want to die without knowing if some of her family had escaped.

"Harry, why are you doing this? What have you done?"

He obviously didn't like something in her tone and his hands tightened painfully around her arms. Harry looked down at her a strange look crossing his face.

"I had to, don't you see. They betrayed me, all of them. They were worse then the Dursleys, they at least were open about it, not like your parents, pretending to take me under their wing. I was good though, their deaths were clean. I did that for you and for Ron… and that's why I came back. Where is Ron by the way?"  
As he spoke he pulled her along into the kitchen where there was more light. She shook her head at his question, but hope welled up within her. _Ron is alive._ "He--" Harry quickly cut her off.

"Never mind. I'll find him, but what about you?"

Ginny was only half paying attention now, scanning the floor frantically, her heart breaking a little bit more as she came to rest on each face. She tried to ignore the death eaters in the room, but it was hard. Harry put both his hands on either side of her face, tilting it up and forcing her to look at him and not the bodies of her fallen family. His eyes burned with green fire and he did not look wholly sane.

"You will come with me won't you Ginny. I love you. I can't do it without you."

Ginny thought quickly. If Ron was alive, where was he? What should she do?

"Harry, I, I need to think about it."

It was as if a shutter fell down over his eyes and his expression grew blank. He let go of her.

"And what is there to think about?"

Before Ginny could reply he continued on, his voice hard.

"Fine, fine, I can be reasonable. You have two minutes." Harry turned to face the Death eaters in the room. "Go search the house."

As they filed out, Ginny suddenly remembered the clock, the one that told where everyone was, even to their location in the house. It wasn't so strange that it was that specific, not when considering all the pranks they'd pulled growing up. The lights were all out now, all but three. Ginny, Ron, and Harry. His parents finally added one for Harry; they viewed him as another son. _And he killed them._ It was Ron's though that she was interested in and her eyes followed the arrow on the clock _Home--- Kitchen._ Ginny's eyes widened as she casually searched the room and as they came back to the clock she noticed a cabinet door near the exit slightly ajar. As she realized Harry's attention had focused his attention on her again, Ginny saw him follow her gaze out of the corner of her I and knew she had to do something.

_Ron…_

With brothers like hers, lying was an act of self-preservation and if there was one thing Ginny could do it was act. She once convinced her own highly suspicious mother that a cat was responsible for setting dung bombs. She had imitated Umbridge to complete perfection and she could do this now, when it was so terribly important.

"Harry. I'm sorry. I was just understandably a bit shaken." Ginny walked over to him and grabbing his hand, she smiled up at him.

"Of course I'll go. I'm your girlfriend aren't I? I'll always forgive you. I love you." Harry smiled pulling her closer for a kiss and Ginny could only hope that Ron would use the opportunity to get the hell out of there.

* * *

Ron had protested at first when his parents told him to hide, but understood the logic. He had to get to Ginny who was upstairs, completely oblivious to what was going on and he had to get the message to Lupin, if he was still alive. It was the greatest act of self-control ever not to burst out of his hiding place as his mum died, as his father and his brothers were slain by death eaters. He felt like a right coward, but he'd honor their wishes. Worst of all though was when Ginny came down. He'd expected that she too would tell Harry exactly what he could do with his offer to be a death eater. He was shocked not only to hear her agree, but to sound so damned happy about it. She bloody kissed the murderer! Well Ron wasn't completely stupid. Disgusted, and outraged, yes, but he'd at least use his sister's loathsome betrayal to get out of there. Harry had to be stopped. Slipping out the door, he disapparated, all the while thinking that he would have rather seen Ginny die then see that.

_Traitor._

* * *

Luna Lovegood sat across from Hermione, her strange gaze fixed on the inside of her teacup as she listened quietly as the other girl explained what had happened. So Voldemort was dead and Harry Potter was now leader of the Death Eaters. How terribly distressing, if not completely unsurprising. The yellow-winged wyberts had been saying this for years, but did anybody listen? It was a good thing she owned _The Quibbler_ now. She could see that these would be hard years ahead and people had to have good news to keep up with the times. Besides, it was perfectly obvious to Luna what had to be done. She'd just wait for the others to see it as well. 

Absentmindedly Luna reached out to pat Hermione's hand, not noticing when she missed and patted the cushion instead. She spoke mostly to herself than to Hermione.

"Well, first things first… unless you are a tweedle-faced nelwing."

It would be a long, dark road ahead, but that was merely stating the obvious.


	2. Death Eater or Death

**Author's Note: **A gracias and some credit to Charlie, because part of the G/H dialogue was expanded from our rpg dialogue...

**Chapter One: Death Eater or Death**

* * *

_**One Year Later…**_

* * *

Ginny Weasley stared though the rain-streaked window as the train pulled to a slow stop at King's Cross Station. The light outside was a dreary grey and the filth on the streets was saturated with a cold drizzle that hadn't stopped in weeks. It was the kind of weather that made you want to end it and if she didn't know better, Ginny would say that Harry had found a way to manipulate it, but he wasn't _that _powerful. 

_Not yet anyway…_

The train was a muggle train, but Ginny wasn't the only wizard aboard. It had been barely two weeks after Harry killed Voldemort that he and his death eaters stormed the Ministry of Magic. They took it over within two hours, killing most of the wizards who worked there. Everything had seemed to crumble after that. While half of Harry's attention was spent in making new acquisitions, taking over ministries around Europe, the other half was spent hunting down any who dared oppose him and more besides. No witch or wizard was safe anymore, especially with the routine searches for those from the Order of the Phoenix who still survived. Obscurity was best in times like these and this is exactly why so many more wizards were using muggle instead of wizard transport.

_If they only knew…_

The fact was that once Harry had crushed the few wizarding governments that remained and gained complete control of the wizarding world, he'd turn his attention to the muggles. Chances were that he wouldn't even wait for that. They were such an easy target and Harry liked to have his fun. He also wouldn't settle for anything less than world domination. A lot of things had changed in a year.

Ginny wasn't so foolish as to think she wasn't being watched either. Harry had taken to sending a few death eaters along "for her own protection." That was why the train, this way she had a chance of losing them and after switching stations three times, she was fairly sure she had. If not, there was nothing too incriminating in what she appeared to be doing, not yet anyway.

Eventually, Ginny turned back to the woman across the aisle from her. As always, she couldn't bring herself to ask the one question that mattered to her the most. _How's Ron?_ Two simple words, but each time she was determined to ask; they caught in her throat. She had only seen him once in the past year after that night that their family had died and it too had been under extremely bad circumstances; a raid.

Ginny hadn't even wanted to go along, but Harry had insisted. She guessed he had been trying to make a point with the death of her brother. Though maybe she was being overly suspicious and Harry didn't know that Ron was supposed to be there. _Right_. The answer was evident enough when he blamed and killed two death eaters for his escape. Either way, it was actually a good thing she'd did go along. The soonest chance she got, having no desire to kill any of the old Order, she had slipped away from Harry and his force of death eaters. It was purely by accident that she had found the fleeing wizards' secret escape route. She wasn't far down the passage when she had come across Ron. She didn't know who was more surprised, but she did know who reacted first. She could hear the voices of Harry and the Death Eaters calling after her, thrilled that she had found where they had run to. Ginny hadn't meant for them to see… Ron was hesitant to decent to attack his baby sister, but Ginny knew that she'd have to do something, so she cast petrificus totalus on him and rendered him immobile. He fell flat and Ginny just barely managed to cover him with some of the trash that had littered the alley when the others burst out. As they ran off in the direction she pointed, she couldn't shake the look of hatred that Ron had given her in his frozen state. It still haunted her now. He had thought she was turning him in or worse… She'd left him alone, petrified, and unprotected in cold alley in London, which was almost as bad. Furthermore, several of the Order was caught that night, some killed, and it was all her fault. Ginny had a few ideas before then, nothing planned. She knew she had to sabotage the death eaters when she could, but after that fiasco, she knew it would have to be more coordinated then that or more people would get hurt.

No, Ginny couldn't ask about Ron… at least she knew he was still alive. That would just have to be enough. The train doors opened and Ginny stood up, giving Luna Lovegood a slight nod.

"Remember to the ears of the wolf as soon as you can. I don't think there is much time. I don't know whether I'll make the next train, they changed the schedules."

Ginny admittedly felt somewhat stupid talking in code, but it was necessary and furthermore, sounding stupid was the least of her worries. Luna would pass the message on to Lupin. Ginny just didn't know when she'd be able to pass on new information. It was getting harder and harder to get away. She was lucky she was able to give them as much as she had, but that was entirely due to Luna's ingenuity. _The Quibbler_ was now of vital importance to the resistance, mainly because so few paid attention to it and the crazed ramblings within its pages. It seemed harmless and that's why it hadn't been shut down like the other papers. What Harry and his death eaters didn't know though was that Luna had trained the photographs in each paper to pass on messages to key people. This was how Ginny first knew she could contact Luna… Luna had already been trying to contact those of the Order who were still alive. The people in the photographs were under the strictest of orders. Ginny didn't know how Luna had managed it, but it seemed to work. She supposed it was because few people bothered to be careful around an old newspaper and even fewer suspected the photographs to say anything other than the usual nonsense. The details were unimportant, what was important was that Luna was in touch with all the right people, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, among others.

Lupin was the only one who could possibly organize a resistance against Harry and his death eaters and that was exactly what he had done. As for Ginny, she met with Luna and passed on the information that Lupin and the others needed to know. Beyond that, she asked no specific questions about who was now a part of it or what their plans were. As it was, she could still guess who was involved and that was dangerous enough. She didn't want to know anything that might cause them harm or thwart their plans if Harry discovered that she was giving information to those who would bring him down. The one provision Ginny made in all this, aside from the fact that the information needed to go directly to Lupin, was that Luna was not to tell who her source was. As twisted as it was, if Ginny was found out and Harry decided to kill her, she'd rather they think that she'd died a death eater. It would cause her brother less pain that way… maybe. It was for practical purposes as well because knowing Ron, if he actually believed that Ginny hadn't betrayed them all, he'd want to drag her out of it, and that would never do. As hard as this was, she knew that she was of most use staying with Harry and passing what information on she could about his plans. Harry had to be stopped.

Luna nodded at Ginny's remark then gestured grandly out the window.

"Be careful, Gineesely Weaslvra, the red-winged queaslenewts are out in full force tonight."

That was not in code. That was just typical Luna and a smile came unbidden to Ginny's face. It was nice that no matter the times, Luna would always be Luna. Shaking her head slightly, Ginny walked down the aisle and off the train. Hopefully Lupin would put what she'd told Luna to good use.

Stepping onto the train platform, she breathed in the cold dirty air and sank down slightly into her black leather jacket as she began to feel the effects ofthe scummy drizzle. Glancing up at the cracked yellow clock of the station, she cursed silently. She was already an hour later than she said she'd be and still had a twenty minute walk back to the house. She couldn't apparate though. Harry had long since placed bans on that, not liking to be surprised, and the last person who had tried it had met with a very gruesome and fiery death. Despite the fact that depending on Harry's mood, her belated arrival might cause some problems, Ginny was in no hurry to get back. Still, even though each step was an effort of willpower, in no time at all she found herself turning onto Grimmauld place.

The area had once been a muggle neighborhood, but that had changed when Harry took over. Most of the houses were owned by death eaters now and Sirius Black's old house, number 12, left to Harry upon his death, was the hub. Ginny didn't like staying there. It had changed a lot since that summer that they had all holed up there, before her fourth year at Hogwarts, and Harry's fifth. She had little choice though. Passing through the wards and through the gate, Ginny walked down the overgrown garden path to the front door and pulled it open. As usual, there were death eaters hanging around, most of which Ginny hadn't bothered to learn the names of. Though there were a few she couldn't have forgotten even if she wanted to. It wasn't really rudeness, but rather practicality as a third of them would be dead within the week, usually because Harry offended easily and killed quickly. Of course, though his actions were clearly abominable as he murdered his own so easily, most of them were unctuous little cutthroats and she detested the lot.

Studiously ignoring them, Ginny strode through corridors,attemptingtodisregard theuneasy feeling between her shoulder blades that she always felt when she saw the rectangular patches of wallpaper. These were only places where the wallpaper hadn't faded into grey and spot was a testament to the paintings that used to hang along the walls. Harry had burned every last one of them, the screams echoing through the large house as if they had been real people and not flecks of paint. Harry hadn't liked the way they'd been talking to him.

Coming to a stop outside the door to the study, Ginny hesitated for a moment then knocked lightly on the door. Despite the fact that he probably already knew she was back, she'd seen far too many death eaters die from one of the unforgivable curses because the unfortunate wizard or witch has just burst in. Harry might not mean to do it to her, but she'd be dead just the same and then there would be no voice of reason for him whatsoever. Ginny harbored no false hopes that she could somehow make Harry the way he used to be, but she knew that she had influence over him. Whenever he went into one of his psychotic rages, she was the only one who could calm him down. If she died and that was unchecked… well Ginny pitied the people left behind.

Pushing the door open, she poked her head into the room, a small smile on her face as she looked at him. Once Harry had firm control of London, he'd decided that he needed a new image. He'd opted for muggle technology, losing the glasses and going for contacts. He looked more handsome without his glasses, but also more sinister. She supposed that was the point. On the whole she preferred the old look. At the moment though, he _was_ wearing his glasses as he stared at a computer screen, another bit of muggle technology Harry had adopted. He was finding uses for everything. She felt a familiar pang as she looked at him. He almost seemed like the Harry she used to know.

"I'm back."

Harry's fingers didn't even pause on the keyboard as he responded.

"I can see that."

Taking a few steps into the room, Ginny was going to see exactly what he was doing when he finished typing and stood up, walking over to her. He rested his hands against her shoulders as he looked down at her.

"You're over an hour late, what took you so long?" As usual, Ginny had to wonder if he knew exactly what she was up to, but then she was sure if he did. The questions would go much differently. She just smiled at him and shook her head.

"Sorry, the train was held up." That wasn't a complete lie, there were always delays. Harry clearly wasn't happy about it though.

"If you insist on traveling by muggle methods, I could have someone drive you…" That was the last thing Ginny wanted and she shook her head emphatically in response.

"No, that's alright. I just lost track of what time it was. I really should take to wearing a watch. There's no reason to waste manpower by having someone drive me around." Of course, the reason Ginny didn't wear a watch was for the excuse. She knew there'd be times when she couldn't get back sooner. She shrugged casually, the very picture of innocence… well she hoped so anyway. "Next time I'll apparate closer, I just felt like a walk." She hated to hear herself offer up excuses, but it was important to keep him appeased.

Harry watched her face as she rambled on, then finally just shook his head slightly then pressed a kiss against her lips before pulling back again, resting a hand against the side of her face, before letting it drop to take a hold of one of her hands as he led her over to the desk.

He gave her a sheepish smile. "You know how I get when you're gone. I've missed you. You've finished all your errands?" Now this was tricky. Outwardly he seemed like a caring boyfriend, but she knew there was a subtle exertion of his power going on here. He seemed perfectly amiable now, but that could change faster than one of his death eaters could drop after he hit them with the killing curse. If she said yes, then it meant that she'd have a hard time getting out by herself again and if she said no, he'd get annoyed. It was frustrating, even more so because if Harry had acted like some supremely over-possessive boyfriend comment _before_, she would have told him exactly where he could shove it. Now if she did it, other people suffered. Ginny had once yelled at one of her friends at Hogwarts for staying with her abusive boyfriend, for humoring him all the time. She had acted like two different people when she was with him and when she was away. Now Ginny got it, well to some extent… though she still thought her friend had been acting like a moron… and of course, their situations were vastly different. The premise though was the same.

"Almost. I still need to get my wand checked. You know, since Oliviander is dead. It's hard to find someone as good." Probably not the best idea to bring it up as Harry had killed the man personally, but it was a statement of fact. If he didn't like it, he had only himself to blame. Harry nodded slowly at her before moving to sit down at the desk again, sliding his hand around her waist as he pulled her down with him.

"True enough. Next time though, I'll come with you. We haven't had much time alone together lately."

Ginny sighed inwardly. She definitely wouldn't be getting anything to Luna for a while. She wasn't so flattered as to think that this was all just because he missed her. She knew very well it was also because she knew too much. Ginny forced a smile onto her face and nodded.

"Great." Ginny moved her hand to ruffle his hair an outwardly loving gesture, but as she looked at him she was trying to find out what it was about him today. He seemed excited about something. "So what have you been up to, aside from playing with muggle toys?"

Harry grinned at her, leaning forward slightly.

"This is going to make things a whole lot easier. Take a look."

He gestured towards the monitor and Ginny turned to look, her whole body stiffening at the sight. There were several rows of names on the computer, followed by their locations, as well as their status.

"In here I can keep track of everyone. All the death eaters, the ones who've died… the threats that need to be eliminated… or those who might join the cause… I can even plug in who is going after who. That way I don't need to waste any effort sending the several people to handle a given _situation_. Unless it's needed of course. The locations work like that clock that used to be in your Mum's kitchen, of course, it still needs to be tweaked. Right now it's arranged so I need to know a person's starting whereabouts for the computer to track them… You can do cross-reference searches and everything… It's a great mix of muggle machinery and magic."

Ginny scanned the lists, barely listening as Harry continued to explain in excited tones. She couldn't believe how casual he sounded. She was completely intent on the names though, focusing on the ones she knew. Some were marked for "recruitment possibilities," death eater or death such as Dean Thomas and Oliver Wood… She was surprised that they were there. Ginny wondered if Harry remembered that Dean had been engaged to Pavarti. And Oliver Wood… well she simply _knew _he'd never become a death eater. Ginny moved on through the lists, to the names of those who were already marked down as dead such as Sibyll Trelawney… Gilderoy Lockhart. The computer used the term "deceased," but Ginny knew that what it really meant was terminated.

_What possible benefit could he have in killing Trelawney and Lockhart, other then just for fun._

Neither of them posed a threat. Ginny knew Harry had the habit of whimsically ordering the deaths of countless wizards, but it was worse to see just how many he had gotten. However, it was the other list, those marked for death, that affected her the most. Another reminder of how Harry liked to toy with people, even her. At the top of the list was one Ronald Weasley, location, London. Lupin's name was there at well, only his whereabouts were still unknown. That was fortunate, but Ginny was worried enough about Ron. Ginny closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remain calm. She opened her eyes again when she realized that Harry had stopped speaking. His eyes were locked on her face, appearing a green so dark, they were almost black.

"What's wrong?"

Ginny tried to keep her voice steady as she responded.

"Nothing, it's all very organized."

Ginny got up and walked over to the window. What was really going through her mind was that Harry had clearly stated on his precious little program that Ron was to be killed outright. He wasn't even going to give him the chance to join up, not that he would or should, but it hurt her that he'd do this. That she'd find out like this. He even knew that Ron was in London. It was Ron's name that made the crack in her composed veneer. It was terribly dangerous, but she couldn't stop the tears that pricked against her eyes. Harry was still watching of course, so she looked away, staring at the bleary cityscape, anything, she just couldn't look at him right now. Not after this. It was one thing to suspect or even know something and yet another to see it written, or typed, down. It made it more permanent. She didn't risk a glance, but she kept on talking, a futile attempt to try and pretend there was nothing wrong.

"It will definitely help things run more smoothly."  
Ironically, her voice cracked at that last word and since it was completely useless to even pretend she wasn't upset at this point, her temper won out as she whirled on him. In the past year, it wasn't her fear, but her temper that had been hardest to control. Ginny was a good actress, but sometimes, there was nothing else to be done.

"Ron. The only brother you haven't killed and he's marked for death! You aren't even going to give him a chance are you? To try and convince him? After being friends so long—"  
Ginny stopped, covering her eyes with her hand as unwanted tears once again threatened to leak from her eyes. She couldn't even trust herself to continue. Seeing Harry's face though, it was probably best though that she didn't say anything further.

"Ginny, I am only going to say this once. _No one_ speaks to me that way. _No one._ Don't even begin to pretend that you didn't know this was going to happen. You knew… Ron was my friend, but that's changed now and he has to die. People change… you should know… I remember when you were just Ron's little sister with the huge crush that I tried to ignore. Everything changes. His death is inevitable and the sooner you get over that, the better off we'll be."

His words were both harsh and demeaning. She couldn't believe he'd brought up the way she'd acted as a first year in Hogwarts and how Ron had to die all in one breath. Harry continued to give her a cold look for a moment until suddenly he moved forward, lifting his hand. It was as if deep inside of him, someone had flicked a switch and suddenly he was all consolation and sorrow.

"I'm sorry Ginny. I know he's your brother and you're bound to be upset. It's just that everything has already been set into motion. If I spare Ron now, people will think I'm weak. I can't have that Ginny. You know that."

As Harry moved his hand towards her cheek, she instinctively took a step back. Ginny just couldn't bear for him to touch her at this moment. His hand dropped away and she regretted it, but she couldn't take back the action. Seeing the hesitation and remorse written on his face, all the anger and upset she felt drained from her expression and all that was left was weariness. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she opened them again.

"Harry, you and I both know that you have enough power and the will to do anything you want. _No matter what anyone says._"

Shaking her head slightly, she slipped past him and headed for the door.

"I'm going for a walk."

She didn't turn around when she heard the angry sarcasm in Harry's voice

"_Another one?_ Great! Fine, go!" He shouted after her and Ginny kept walking. After closing the door she could hear a loud crash coming frominside thestudy of something being thrown around. Ginny just hoped it wasn't the computer. She knew that wouldn't solve her problem and once Harry realized what he did, his rage would be even worse. A death eater ran by her towards the study, probably to investigate. By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, the death eater's had released a terrible scream of pain and continued to do so, only breaking off into a gurgle by the time she had reached the front door. Opening it, she stepped outside in time to hear a loud shatter before death eater's already scorched and broken body fell to the pavement. She paused for a moment, looking up to see Harry staring down through the broken window, a satisfied expression on his face. She flinched slightly. She knew it was her fault that Harry had just killed that man. Tearing her gaze away from Harry she turned back to look at the death eaters who had come outside to see what was going on.

"You better clean it up or else he'll just get even angrier."

With that Ginny turned around and kept walking. As she had so many times before, Ginny began to tell herself that she was doing more good than harm by staying here... She wasn't very convincing.


	3. Barroom Antics

**Author's Note:**For now I am ignoringthe fact that the most recent HP book has rendered some of this stuff... somewhat innaccurate, but hell it's an alternative/hypothetical hp reality anyway so meh... I might try and explain things later so there is the possibility that this might get sixth book spoilerish, but only that... Anyway,this chapter is a twee bit graphic in some spots... so you are all forewarned.

Oh and gracias Kim, gooood eye, I didn't even notice that when I proof-read.

And on another note... gracias to the people who reviewed... I really appreciate them because that is the only way I know whether my story completely sucks or not... so any constructive criticism and stuff like that is very veeeeeeeeery welcome.

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**Chapter Three: Barroom Antics**

Oliver Wood walked down the street towards an old rundown pub that was nestled in one of the darkest corners of Knockturn Alley. Undoubtedly the sign out front had once sported words such as "The Rat Tail" or "The Poison Apple," but the letters had long since faded and the sign itself hung only by the grace of a single rusty nail. The pub probably had been raided in the past year, most likely during the purges in that first month, but now it was as forgotten as it had been before Voldemort's death. Ironically, though Knockturn Alley had been a virtual death eater den in years past, now it was just the opposite, a safe haven for those witches and wizards who resisted Harry. They relied on the place's reputation to keep them safe, though all remained permanently on their guard. They had to be in times like these.

Pushing open the heavy wooden doors to the pub, Oliver paused to survey the clientele before walking over to the bar and taking a seat. After a moment, the bartender slapped a butterbeer down in front of him as well as a copy of _The Quibbler_. The bartender, Finch Widdeon, was also the owner of the pub and was renting out the tiny room upstairs to him. He was supportive of the resistance, though not active in it. He knew Oliver well enough now to know that he didn't drink… or at least not often. Oliver personally couldn't stand the taste of butterbeer either, but it would have looked unusual if he didn't have something that looked remotely alcoholic. Oliver had aspirations to be the ultimate quidditch player… He'd been the keeper on the Gryffindor team as well as the captain. He'd gotten a job with his favorite team, Puddlemere United, fulfilling his dreams… He hadn't wanted any kind of vices when he had played quidditch and had gotten even more fanatical about keeping his body clean from substances which could affect his game.

Even as obsessed as he had been, Oliver hadn't been able to ignore what had been going on in the wizarding world and had eventually joined the Order of the Phoenix. From then on it had been a balancing act between the Order and the team. It worked out well because he could use the traveling that his job entailed to fulfill missions that were further away such as recruitment with foreign wizards. All the wizards in the Order had jobs, it wasn't like he was doing anything different… and he could apparate back if he was needed. Once Harry had pulled the coup on Voldemort though, everything went completely beyond Oliver's control. Harry had kept the quidditch matches going because they amused him, but he asked fealty from the players just the same as everyone else. Oliver kept playing on the team, but he was already disgusted with what was going on. He'd been teammates with him and friends since they'd both been working for the Order. He'd seen what Harry had done firsthand and felt as surprised and betrayed as the others did, though it certainly wasn't anything to compare with Ron and Hermione… and he would have said Ginny as well… but then she had backed her boyfriend. Ron was still extremely upset about it, as he should be, but Oliver sometimes wondered if there wasn't more behind the story. Nothing to dwell on though, he had problems as it was and they only seemed to grow.

Two months had passed since Harry's coup and the purges had been going strong. He began to hunt down most of those who had been his friends, because those in the Order knew evil when they were faced with it. They might have been friends with Harry, but they certainly weren't going to join him. Added to that, he demanded fealty of nearly every witch or wizard anyway. The way Oliver figured it, he was doubly screwed. It would be long now before the death eaters came. The pressures added up and then in one of his more insane acts, Harry wiped out the entire Tutshill Tornado quidditch team all by himself.

The Tornados had been playing the Chudley Cannons at Bodmin Moor at the time. Both teams had been nervous because Harry Potter was there and it soon became evident that he wasn't there to watch the match. He didn't kill the players right away, instead he had them all reeling around on their broomsticks with the imperius curse, flying every which way. Oliver hadn't been in attendance at the game, after all he was part of an opposing team, but he had watched the match on the crystal ball, struck in horror as Harry toyed with the team, eliminating them one by one.

He began by making one of the beaters fly straight into a bludger as it went for him. The contact was made head first. The match quickly became something akin to a muggle video game, with Harry controlling the Tornado's actions with each flick of his wand as he had them score on the Cannons, while also arranging their horrible deaths. The game ended in a cruel mimicry of Harry's first quidditch match. Cho Chang, the tornado seeker, was forced to catch the snitch in her mouth, then unable to stop Harry's machinations, swallowed it whole, the wings slicing up her insides as it went down. She wasn't allowed any help and would have slowly bled to death if the snitch hadn't burst from her stomach in an explosion of blood and organs. Throughout this horrible abomination of a quidditch match, the Cannons had scarcely known what to do. They'd all been frightened for their lives, but it was clear that they were to still keep playing as Harry controlled the Tornados like puppets. The Cannons lost the game, but the Tornados lost their lives. Quidditch had always been a dangerous sport, but nothing like this.

Matches were always arranged such that no one could apparate in, less people who hadn't paid to see the match try and sneak in. If Oliver had been there, he certainly would have attacked Harry, but as it was, he could only watch helpless through the glassy globe. Sickened by what he'd seen, Oliver had reached for his coat, stumbled out the door and headed for the Leaky Cauldron. He had thought, since everything and everyone was going to hell, he might as well have a drink and enjoy it. Countless flagons of firewhisky later, the world got even worse for Oliver when death eaters decided to approach him at that precise time to see if he'd join up.

Angry and inebriated, Oliver had done the only thing he could. He'd reached across the bar, grabbed the largest bottle there and smashed it over the nearest death eater's head before punching the other one in the face. Wands were all well in good, but Oliver was way too wasted for it and besides, as sloshed as he was, that was much more fun anyway. Once Oliver had initiated his drunken attack, it was like a chain reaction and soon everyone was fighting just for the sheer hell of it. Good thing too, because after a bit of blundering, he found his way through the barroom brawl and outside while the death eaters were otherwise engaged. Oliver hadn't even made it home, he just found a comfortable looking spot in an alley and fell asleep amidst a pile of old newspapers. It was by sheer chance that one of those newspapers just happened to be _The Quibbler_.

The next morning, Oliver had woken up with a splitting headache, a great number of cuts and bruises, and a photograph of a strange little creature on the front page of _The Quibbler_ shouting obscenities at him in a high squeaky voice to wake him up. At first Oliver had wondered if he was still drunk. Then as the shrieks grew more personal in their insult, he was even more convinced and readjusting himself on an aged copy of _The Daily Prophet, _he attempted to go back to sleep. Still not the ideal place, but hangovers can be very nasty and Oliver was hardly thinking straight. As the shouting continued, Oliver had sat up and taking a closer look at the paper, he finally recognized the message that Luna had hidden for people like him. It was an effort to call the Order back together. Voldemort was dead, but their work wasn't done. Now they had to defeat Harry.

Oliver hadn't even gone home; he'd gone directly to the quidditch offices. Then, Oliver Wood, the ultimate quidditch zealot and captain of his team, did what was deemed so impossible, that no one had ever considered it. He resigned from quidditch. Even if it had not been a necessity as the incident with death eaters required that he got himself lost, Wood probably would have done it anyway. Some things were just more important. He'd gotten in touch with Luna Lovegood the following day and she sent him to Lupin. Soon enough he found a place to hide out in the old pub and was soon working hard recruiting members (such as Angelina Johnson and Lee Jordan) and doing other tasks for the resistance.

_Nine months and practically nothing to show for it…_

Sighing inwardly, Oliver took a drink of the butterbeer, grimacing slightly at the taste as he scanned the headlines of the paper. He already knew there was a meeting tonight and there would likely be nothing, but the usual hidden messages for recruitment purposes, but it never hurt to check. As his eyes fell on the main photograph, the creature in the image began to dance about, leaving trails of flames where its feet fell that slowly formed the numbers _2 2 8_.The flames disappeared rather rapidly, after all, prying eyes were everywhere. Oliver had what he needed though. The meeting was a go, the place was the one they had discussed, and it would take place at 8… which meant that he didn't have much time.

Though Oliver's back was to the door, there was a mirror above the bar that reflected the entrance and as he lifted his head from the paper he could see as a hooded figure stumbled into the bar clutching a nearly empty bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky. Oliver frowned slightly. Hoods these days automatically put him on guard. They were after all, the clothing of choice for dementors, death eaters, and people up to no good in general. Of course, he could also add everyone that did not want to get rained on to the list, but he figured the paranoia would only keep him alive longer. Of course, every movement this man (?) made clearly indicated that he was already drunk. He took a few steps into the bar then suddenly began to fumble with his cloak, the hood falling further over his face, as he struggled to get out of it. The movements quickly became angry as he jerked his arms out, trying to get whatever it was that was keeping the cloak on After a moment he finally ripped it off, throwing it to the ground revealing a shock of white-blonde hair. As the man lifted his head, Oliver's eyes narrowed as he recognized who it was. _Draco Malfoy_.

Oliver hadn't known him well in school, but from what he'd seen, he'd been a sniveling little weasel when he'd been on the slytherin quidditch team, not to mention one of the death eaters the Order had been fighting against. Or at least he_ had_ been one, but Harry as deranged as he was, was hardly going to suddenly become great pals with Malfoy either. Last Oliver heard, Malfoy was dead, and he hadn't exactly been broken up about it.

"You can't bring drinks in here." Finch gave Malfoy a glare before going back to wiping down the bar with a dirty rag. Malfoy gave him an outraged look, before he cast his eyes around the room in an expression of mock surprise.

"This is a bar isn't it? People do _drink_ here?" Finch had seen all sorts of drunks before and he didn't even blink, just kept wiping.

"Buy something or get out." Draco let the bottle slip from his hands and shatter on the ground and he walked to the bar, wincing as he sat on a stool two over from Oliver.

"Fine, stupid oaf… gimme one of those." He gestured towards one of the lagers that lined the wall, still muttering in annoyance to himself.

"Money first."

Malfoy scowled. "What!" Glaring at Finch once more he began to empty his pockets. Nothing was in them. "Damn!" Reaching into a pocket once more, he pulled out his wand shoving it under Finch's nose. "How about, you give me one, and I don't blast you to hell." The effect was somewhat ruined by the fact that the wand was wavering in Malfoy's hand. Oliver reached out quickly and grabbed his wrist, bending it back.

"You don't want to do that Malfoy."

Malfoy grinned breaking Oliver's grip on his wand hand. "Sure I do." Then he actually realized who he was talking to and his expression turned nastier, though his words were still slightly slurred. "Well if it isn't… well, you'll forgive me if I've forgotten your name. Never could keep track of all of you filthy--"

"_Spare me_. I see you haven't changed… in attitude anyway." The fact that Oliver hadn't just punched Malfoy in the face spoke a lot for how much he'd matured over the years. He had more self-control now or maybe it was just the fact that he didn't have quidditch to get hyped up about. "Now drop the wand."

Malfoy smirked. It dropped briefly when he nearly fell out of his chair, but it was quickly back in place as he whirled the wand towards Oliver now. Throughout this, Finch had just kept wiping down the bar, unconcerned. "Maybe I'll just blast you instead."

"Frankly with the state you're in, I'd be surprised if you could hit a giant standing right in front of your nose." That was evidently enough for Malfoy because a half second later, he lunged, knocking Wood off of his chair. He threw in one good punch, hitting Oliver in the eye, but as drunk as Malfoy was, and also given the fact that Wood was taller and heavier, the fight was pretty one-sided and Wood shoved Malfoy off of him with enough force to make him hit a nearby table, or the legs anyway. Quickly standing up, Oliver walked over to Malfoy, ready to beat some sense into him if it was needed, but Malfoy didn't get up. It was actually somewhat surprising. Wood hadn't hit him that hard. Scowling slightly, he rubbed his hand against his cheek suddenly realizing that it was sticky. Looking down at his hand, he found that it was covered in blood. He _knew_ he hadn't cut him. Kneeling besides Malfoy who was still rambling, more incoherently now, though Wood could still make out the occasional imprecation, he found that Draco's black shirt was soaked through with blood.

"Shit Malfoy, what the hell happened to you?" Oliver could make some pretty good guesses though and they all had to do with Harry's death eaters. Malfoy didn't respond. Instead he leaned over and vomited, narrowly missing a rat that was scurrying across the floor. Oliver gave him a disgusted look then ran a hand through his hair in irritation. Despite his better judgment, he couldn't just leave him.

"Ah, _hell_."

Barely glancing up, Finch whisked his wand from behind the counter and pointed it at the puke. "Evanesco!" All of the vomit vanished and he returned the wand, before wiping glasses with (Oliver hoped) a different rag. Looking down at Malfoy, Oliver shook his head and leaned down, moving his hand under one of his arms to help him to his feet.

"Come on Malfoy."

"I don't want your help!" He snapped back at him, though his voice was much weaker now.

"Just shut it and start walking, I'm not going to carry you." Though Malfoy kept shouting insults at Wood, he did little else to resist, not having the strength, so eventually Oliver was able to get him to the room he was staying in, sitting him on the bed. Oliver hated to bring him there. He loathed Malfoy, but he couldn't just leave him there. At least he knew that he wasn't going to run and tell Potter. Harry loathed Malfoy maybe more than anyone.

Glancing at the shabby clock on the wall, Wood cursed. It was 8:30. The whole thing with Malfoy had taken up way too much time and he still wasn't done. Walking over to the cabinet he pulled out a chocolate bar. Chocolate was supposed to help with healing or something; wasn't it? He didn't have anything else more useful at the moment aside from some gauze. Fortunately or maybe unfortunately, Malfoy's wounds weren't so serious that he'd die without medical attention or anything like that, so he didn't feel the slightest bit guilty about just taking off and leaving Malfoy in this state… though he didn't particularly want him rooting through his things.

"Here, figure it out. If you puke again, you're sure as hell cleaning it up yourself."

Oliver turned and walked out of the door, closing it firmly behind him and ignoring Malfoy's irritated shouts. He had a meeting to get to and he was already late.


	4. Would you like Dementors with that?

_AN: Thanks for the reviews guys, it makes it all worth it. And ok, sorry for the lack of updates. I've just been busy and I suck. Oh and for the stupid chapter name. I blanked. Anyway, I will try to update a lot more quickly next time._

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**Chapter Three: Would you like Dementors with that?**

Remus Lupin glanced furtively over his shoulder, his hand in his jacket pocket fingering his wand. It had become a nervous habit of late. His shoulder twitched slightly and he saw a muggle woman veer to avoid him on the sidewalk, a familiar disdainful expression in her face. Remus knew how he looked. His now almost completely grey hair was unkempt and his chin covered in dark stubble. He also had more lines around his eyes then he'd had a year ago. Seeing Harry kill Dumbledore had aged him. The woman probably veered though because though he had been rooting through the trash for a copy of _The Quibbler_, he had also literally doused himself in alcohol. Nothing got people to overlook and avoid you better than dressing up like a homeless bum and a drunken one at that. It also helped that it was dark now and everyone was avoiding everyone else. At the moment, Remus wasn't entirely certain his charade was working though.

As he rounded the corner, Remus caught a glimpse of that same man again. Lupin had been able to evade Harry's death eaters for a year now; he'd hate to be found out now. He was worried that he was being tailed… and while he as well as most of the wizards had adapted full mugglewear by this point, he was still inclined to look out for people like the exotically donned man on the other street. It was a pity that Harry was raised with muggles. He was more savvy among them and his death eaters had learned as well. It had been safer over the past year to meet with the others in muggle locations though with Harry's aspiration to "rule" them as well, it was getting more and more difficult to find places to meet. Soon going out to any muggle place would be just as dangerous as any location in the wizarding world… if not more. Muggles were unpredictable.

_Speaking of which…_

Lupin was having difficulty telling whether the man _was_ a muggle. He'd backtracked and gone the wrong way a few times just in case, but maybe he needed to be more proactive about this. He was too paranoid and it was too much of a risk to go to the others without checking. Turning back around the corner, he stumbled forward, making his eyes droop as he weaved his way over to the man, touching passersby as he went and humming loudly. Finally he bumped into the man he'd been watching out for, knocking him completely to the ground.

"Oh, apologies, apolologiiiies." Lupin slurred his words as he immediately went to simultaneously dust the man off, pull him to his feet, and pat him down for a wand. Of course it appeared that he was searching for money. "S'only _and _ac-sh-ident. I was telling my grandmother Harrieta, just the other day, how very clumsy I am…." Lupin continued to babble non-stop while his sharp eyes took in the man's reactions. Lupin's antics caused the man to turn a deep shade of red in no time and it was only a matter of moments before he began yelling back. It was clear from both his reaction and the pat down that the man was simply a muggle and not even a muggle in the know, so Lupin jumped back and tipped an invisible hat to him. "Sooo sorry! Have you and spare change, then? No? Alright then." Then Lupin took off, disappearing into the crowd and rounding the corner again. He hadn't simply been watching the man's reaction; he'd been watching the reactions of those around him as well. Most had fortunately just ignored him and continued on their way. Lupin didn't understand how muggles could pass by some one being accosted on the streets without a blink of the eye and yet freaked out at the merest hint of magic. Though that was changing. Lupin's performance had been over the top, but now he knew what he needed. If there had been muggle police around, Lupin wouldn't have tried it. Harry had already bought them off. The muggle governments hadn't fallen just yet, but Harry wasn't stupid. He had everyone out looking for them that he could.

Fortunately, the rest of the trip passed without incident and upon reaching his destination, Lupin stepped into an old alley, and pulled out his wand. Muttering a few words and flicking it twice, his appearance was neatened somewhat and the smell faded. Lupin's clothes were still worn and tattered, but then he was used to wearing shabbier attire. Walking back out of the alleyway, he headed for the entrance, pulling open the glass doors to be blasted by air smelling of stale grease, fat, and syrup. The smell of the muggle "fast food" restaurant was quite repulsive, but they seemed to like the place as it was always packed. Thus its appeal as a meeting place.

Ignoring the lines in front of the counter, Remus headed straight for the stairs, observing his surroundings as he went. Though he had personally decided on this location, he didn't like the fact that they'd be trapped upstairs if Harry's death eaters came for them. At least the room had a lot of windows so they could see who approached. Beggars couldn't be chooser and right now it was their best option. Next time they'd meet somewhere else. Reaching the second floor, Lupin turned towards the corner and spotted a few of the others in a long booth and he could make out bits and pieces of their various conversations.

"—Going to the shopping center later today… shoes… the game…" And then oddly, "This _petrol_ is _quite_ tangy!" which made Remus think that perhaps a few kinks needed to be worked out of the spell. None of it was real of course; it was merely to keep up appearances. They did after all need their talk to be private and as he reached the large booth he stepped through the barrier and the noises shifted and Lupin could hear the _real _conversation.

"That's foolish Ron. We need to think this through, not launch some ill-planned attem— Hello Prof—Remus." Hermione Granger spoke in a low voice, an offended expression on her face as she looked at Ron. She still managed to interrupt herself, appearing the epitome of polite decorum as Lupin wearily threw himself into the seat. He was faintly amused by the fact that Hermione still called him professor even though he had only taught at Hogwarts for one year and had graduated a few years before. Hermione was very bright, but she hadn't quite had the knack for Defense against the Dark Arts as Harry had.

_And now Harry is using them._

Before he could reply, the red-haired man beside her, Ronald Weasley, yelled back at Hermione, giving her an angry glare.

"Yeah, well there's no sense in sitting and waiting for the slaughter either! We haven't done anything in two weeks!"

Lupin sighed slightly. He could sympathize, but he agreed with Hermione. There was some truth to Ron's words as well though as lately it seemed like they'd had more losses than victories. Ron knew that perhaps more than anyone. The year had changed the young man a lot. He was much bolder, almost recklessly so. Remus was worried about him. He had after all suffered the death of his entire family, except for Ginny who joined Harry's side and that amounted to basically the same thing. He knew a lot of Ron's bitterness had to do with how he survived his family's slaughter… by hiding. He thought that perhaps was what really caused the change in the young man's demeanor. Everyone hid though, not just Ron. It was the only way to survive.

What information the group couldn't discover for themselves, they received from Luna's elusive informant. Whoever it was, the information was good, but that wasn't always enough. They had made two attempts in the past month to go against Harry. Right now they were mostly working on saving those Harry was after and just doing what they could to foil his plans. It was a disorganized business, but they had to do all they could.

They had some successes, but lately there were fewer and fewer. Twice this month, they had gone to rescue a wizard that Harry was after. Oliviander had been dead when they found him. The crafty fellow had managed to avoid Voldemort, but he couldn't hide from Harry. Then with the other wizard… well they had lost one of their own as well as the man they had sought. They simply couldn't afford to face Harry and his death eaters head on. Their numbers were too few. Luna got the information they need from their source, but it often wasn't enough. Half the time when they saved someone the wizard just disappeared again, not willing to fight Harry. No one was safe.

"What are you planning Ron?" Remus asked, his tone carefully neutral.

"He wants to take back Hogwarts, that's what!" Hermione cut in, her voice high and tense as she glanced at Ron. The redhead simply glared back at her.

"I can speak for myself Hermione!"

"Well apparently, you still can't think straight!" Hermione snapped back, her tone uncharacteristically mean. The two had always bickered a lot, but it wasn't normally like this. Remus lifted his hand for silence.

"We will Ron, just not yet." Ron shook his head stubbornly, and gestured with irritation as he spoke.

"You know what they're doing there? Creating an army of death eaters. If we took the place, we'd stop that and with all the spells and wards there, we could have a solid base and a safe haven."

Remus sighed. It was true, Hogwarts had once been a safe place, but times changed. Ron did present a good point about the students there though. Ron was worried what would happen if they let it go on for too long.

"Not for long, Ron." Remus looked up at the sound of her voice. Nymphadora Tonks sat down in the booth next to him, giving Ron an earnest look. At her presence, Remus felt something tight inside him relax. She was still too young and still too beautiful even with the ridiculous muggle punk rocker short pink hair she was sporting, and he shouldn't still have feelings for her, but if anything happened to her…

Well the truth was, he loved her so much it hurt. He had thought for a very short period of time that it might work, but he'd been wrong. Remus kept hoping that she'd move on. She was after all still young. Then he wondered what he would do if she _did _move on. It was terribly selfish of him. There was certainly no time to be thinking about it now, in times such as these. Remus nodded slightly at Tonks before turning his attention back to Ron.

"It would be exceedingly difficult for us to get in. Especially with our numbers."

Ron just looked back at him stubbornly. "But not impossible."

Tonks reached out and touched Ron's arm lightly as she cut in again. "No, not impossible. You remember what happened in your sixth year when the death eaters got into Hogwarts. Even if we do manage to breach the wards, Harry still has more numbers. It won't remain safe for long. The reason Hogwarts was so safe was because Dumbledore was alive." Everyone looked down, silent at the thought of Dumbledore's death, but after a moment, a bright dreamy voice interrupted the silence.

"I think it's a brilliant idea, Ron." Luna Lovegood gave the man an intense look and Remus didn't miss Hermione's glower in her direction.

Ron looked up at her, surprise in his expression and tone. "You do?"

Luna nodded then glanced at Remus. "Sorry I'm late. There was the worst infestation of queaselnewts in the trolley…" Remus wasn't even going to think about what she meant as half the time she was often prone to mentioning non-existent creatures.

"There aren't many of us… but I am sure the portraits would help… and the wildlife in Hogwarts… the triple-horned skeezwhizzes and the crying cryptal curmudgigans… and we can't forget the nelwings. Many others as well. None of them like what Harry's doing." Ron's face fell the longer that Luna spoke and he put his face in his hands and began mumbling to himself.

"Great, just great, Loony Lovegood is the only one who thinks it can be done." Ron continued, but his words were soon lost on him. Hermione though, grew louder again.

"Don't be ridiculous Luna. None of those exist! You're making it all up just like you used to in school and this is serious! Do you want him to go off and get himself killed!" Luna blinked, her posture stiffening at Hermione's accusations.

"Of course they do, just because you read all the wrong books is no reason to be so willfully ignorant. You would have done well to read the Quibbler once in a while. With information of actual value." Luna gave Hermione a self-satisfied smile as she finished. "And not complete ministry propaganda."

"Yeah ri—"

"Luna, why don't you tell us the news." Remus interjected hastily before this could turn into another fight. "We'll discuss this later Ron." He glanced around quickly for Oliver Wood, but the man was still nowhere to be seen. Deciding they couldn't wait any longer and since it would prevent arguments for a few minutes anyway, he gestured once again for Luna to continue.

Luna began to trace lazy circles on the counter top as she spoke. "The giants are with Harry. He's going for the veela are next."

Neville who had remained silent up to this point nodded vigorously. "That's what I heard as well, from Cra—" Neville quieted when Luna gave him the evil eye for interrupting her, then sniffed once before continuing.

"As I was saying. He's going to force the veela into a decision about an alliance, but he needs someone to speak to them. They won't talk to humans. He's trying to find Fleur Delacour. He'll make her do it one way or another."

Tonks shook her head slowly. "If Harry gets the veela on their side we're going to have some serious problems. We can't afford it."

"He won't be able to do it without Fleur. We'll need to get to her first." Remus said quietly, considering the implications of it.

"Does anyone even know where Fleur is?" Hermione questioned then she glanced at Ron. He might have an idea. After all, Fleur had been engaged to his older brother Bill. They'd had to hold off the wedding because of Voldemort and now it was too late… They had almost been family though.

"Bullocks if I know." Ron responded.

"Paris." Neville said suddenly, causing everyone to look at him. He shrugged slightly. "I overheard Crabbe. I didn't know who he was going to go after, but it would make sense."

"Paris is a large city. Fleur could stay hidden there, like we have been hiding here in London. It's going to be difficult to find her." Hermione pointed out. Remus nodded grimly.

"Good. It should be difficult for Harry as well."

"What should be difficult?" A voice interrupted. Remus had been expecting it though as he'd been watching the stairs. He frowned slightly as Oliver Wood gestured for Ron and Hermione to move over so he could take a seat, bothered for a moment about something, though he wasn't sure what. Remus forgot that though, when he got a good look at Oliver's eye. The others noticed as well

"Who gave you the shiner?" Ron asked with a low whistle.

"Run into trouble?" Remus asked, quirking his eyebrow slightly at the former quidditch player. Oliver raised a hand to his eye, as if he had forgotten it, which most likely he had and shook his head, muttering slightly.

"You could say that. Malfoy's in town. He's in my flat right now actually." The statement left the table in incredulous silence and Ron gave Oliver a look of complete and utter disbelief.

"Bloody hell, why?"

Remus should have been absorbed in the conversation. It _was_ interesting that Draco Malfoy was back. He knew very well how much Harry hated him so maybe he'd provide a much needed distraction. It was possible though that he'd cause more trouble for them. Instead of focusing on Wood's words though as he explained how he ran into Malfoy, Remus remained distracted.

He glanced around for a moment watching the other people in the restaurant trying to determine exactly what was bothering him. Was he imagining the odd looks cast in their direction? It was possible though you could not be too paranoid if someone was really after you. After a moment, Remus felt a hand on his arm, tearing him out of his thoughts. Tonks was looking at him.

"What's wrong?" Remus shook his head, about to respond when it finally hit him. Unfortunately, at that moment a familiar and terrifying chill hit the room.

Remus stood up, glancing at Oliver. "Quick, what were we talking about when you entered the room. The man started to respond when he realized what the problem was as well. Oliver shouldn't have been able to hear what they were saying from the distance he'd been when he asked what they were discussing.

"The spell isn't working is it?" Oliver said with a casual but irritated sigh. Remus could see the tenseness in his shoulders though and the rest of the group was feeling that distinct chill as well. Even the muggles could feel it. There were dementors nearby. Hurrying towards the stairs, he came to a full stop when a hooded figure appeared at the bottom. He could feel his will to survive slipping away from him.

"Bloody hell, they're out in the open!" Ron exclaimed. This was unprecedented. Though the muggle world was slowly being made aware of the wizarding world, as of yet there had never been any fully open magical attacks.

"I can't be seen here." Neville muttered looking panicked. Remus agreed with him, they needed him as a spy. And the situation was miserable anyway. There were more dementors on the stairs now. And the muggles were starting to panic. Clearly there would be no safety hiding in muggle locations anymore.

"It won't matter now." Tonks told Remus, echoing his thoughts. He hadn't been willing to use magic in front of muggles.

The only person who looked completely calm and in fact like she was having fun was Luna Lovegood.

"Did you know that dementors have their own—" She began.

"Not _now!_" Hermione snapped at the girl.

"I'll distract them. Apparate out, it doesn't matter what the muggles see at this point. All that matters is survival." Remus told the others. He wasn't worried about the dementors. He could cast the patronus charm, but he could hear muggle sirens now and that probably meant death eaters.

"But-" Ron and Hermione began to protest, almost in unison.

"Just go!" Wood told them, pulling out his wand. "We can't do any good here." Lupin didn't see what the others did though as he moved towards the dementors though he assumed they had left since now the muggles were crying out shouts of "witch!" and general muggle carrying on.

"_Expecto patronum!"_ Remus said strongly, flicking his wand out at just the right angle. His patronus sprung from the wand, a wolf, and immediately began to snarl and cut into the death eaters. As he suspected though, death eaters weren't far behind. As he retreating a few steps he felt a hand slip into his. He knew it was Nymphadora without even looking.

"I told you to go." He told her very calmly, though he was angry. He hated the thought of Tonks near danger, even though he knew very well that she could handle herself.

"I wasn't about to leave you." Tonks told him with a glare. "Now be quiet and let's go." Lupin nodded and as the death eaters charged into the room, the pair vanished.


End file.
